Display and mounting assembly



Jan. 25, 1966 H, 5, THOMAS 3,231,086

DISPLAY AND MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Filed OC. 16, 1965 United States Patent O 3,231,086 DISPLAY AND MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Howard S. Thomas, 1600 East Ave., Rochester, N.Y. Filed Oct. 16, 1963, Ser. No. 316,599 2 Claims. (Cl. 206-80) This invention relates to a display and mounting assembly particularly for displaying buttons and more particularly antique buttons and jewelry.

The collecting of antique buttons and jewelry has become a hobby akin to, but on a smaller scale, than the collecting of stamps, coins, etc. Devices such as books are available for mounting and displaying stamps and coins. However, insofar as I am aware, no device has been available for mounting buttons or jewerly lor any other col-- lected items wherein the item has apertures or an opening for receiving a typing device. The display card of my invention may also be useful by salesmen for lbutton manufacturers for displaying to clothing manufacturers various types of buttons which may be employed by the clothing manufacturer. Heretofore, as far as I am aware, antique buttons and jewelry have been stored in bulk in boxes or drawers and there has been no way of attractively and conveniently displaying them.

An object of my invention is to provide a -simple mounting and display card or board to form an assembly for mounting buttons.

My invention further contemplates a display card or mounting board particularly useful for mounting antique buttons in which the buttons may be conveniently arranged in -a selected pattern for obtaining maximum eye appeal; in which the buttons are, to a large extent, protected from abrasion and other damage; and in which the buttons may be conveniently stored when not on display.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be particularly set forth in the claims and will be apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a face view of the mounting and display asasembly with buttons of various sizes and shapes mounted thereon in a pattern;

FIG. 2 is a reverse view of the display card showing the markings or printed matter on the reverse side of the card enabling the buttons to be mounted in a desired pattern; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 in the direction indicated by the arrows.

The display and mounting assembly of my invention will be described in connection with its application to display of antique buttons. However, the application of the assembly to other devices will be obvious. The assembly may be used wherever the articles being collected have an aperture or apertures for the reception of a tying textile material, flexible wire or other tying means.

The assembly (FIGS. 1 and 3) comprises a mounting sheet generally indicated by the numeral 11, a cushioning pad generally indicated by the numeral 12 (FIG. 1) and tying devices for the buttons generally indicated by the numeral 13.

The card or mounting board 11 may be of any suitable material such as wood or metal but more conveniently and inexpensively is made of cardboard 14. Preferably the cardboard sheet is rectangular in shape although it could be circular or any other desired configuration. The back of the card 14 has a center point 16 determined thereon which is used as a base point for marking off the cardboard sheet into squares 17 by horizontal lines 18 and vertical lines 19. Circles 21 and 22 (and others) may be struck from the center point 16 in case it is desired to mount the buttons in a circular pattern. It will of course Patented Jan. 25, 1966 ICC be understood that any desired markings may be applied to the reverse or under side of the cardboard to enable the user to display the buttons in any desired pattern.

Secured to the display card 11 by adhesive or any other suitable means is the cushioning means generally indicated by the numeral 12. The pad 12 is a cushioning device or cushioning surface 23 which may be made of rubber or other resilient material. However, I prefer a cushioning pad of a polyester such as urethane foam. This provides a cushioning surface in which the buttons or other articles being displayed may be embedded when pulled taut by the tying means generally indicated by the numeral 13.

The tying means generally indicated by the numeral 13, comprises a series of elongated strips 26 of deformable material and textile tying elements 27 cooperating therewith. The strips 26 may be of any suitable construction so long as they may be deformed into a desired shape and will retain the deformed shape. In the drawings I have shown the strips as being mounted on the cardboard 14 in straight lines but -it will be appreciated that this is optional.

The preferred form of strips 26 is a twisted metal core (not shown) enclosed by a pile fabric 28. A convenient form vof such strips are pipe cleaners which are readily available at very reasonable prices on the market. A pipe cleaner of the type having strands of textile material held in the twists of deformable wire has the further advantages of presenting a soft exterior so that the display assemblies may be stacked and are readily deformable into any desired shape. While I have the strips 26 in the drawings as being straight, this is of course optional, as the strips could be bent in the form of circles 21 and 22.

It will be apparent from an examination of FIG. 1 that the buttons may be lof any desired shape and include conventional buttons as A or shank buttons as B. The buttons are mounted on the display card by looping a thread of textile material iiexible wire or other means around the strips 26 and through the apertures, or aperture in the case of shank buttons, in the buttons as illustrated in the drawings. After the thread has been passed through the apertures in the buttons and looped over the strips 26, it is pulled taut and tied so as to embed the button in the cushioning pad 12.

The resiliency of the pad and the tightening of the thread securely anchors the buttons to the assembly. As will be apparent from the drawings, the assembly provides a 'convenient form of mounting, displaying, and storing the buttons and holding them securely in the position of the desired pattern.

To receive the textile threads, preferably the card 14 is punched in accordance with the desired pattern so that the threads or flexible wire may be readily passed through the apertures in the buttons and the punchings through the card 14. If desired, instead of individually securing each button in place, a single or double thread of textile material of a length somewhat longer than one of the strips may be used and the buttons in effect sewed in place 'by looping through the thread with respect to one 'button and its associated punchings and carrying the thread to the next set of punchings and button apertures and so forth until all the buttons in one row are held by a single or double thread, The thread is then pulled taut at its end so as to tighten the thread throughout its length and securely anchor the buttons.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, it will be apparent that various modiiications and changes may Ibe made therein, particularly in the form and relation of parts, without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A mounting and display lboard for items having apertures comprising, in combination: a Ibacking sheet having a front and rear surface, `said lrear surface having 'reference markings thereon including a center marking and a :pattern of punchings corresponding `to said reference markings, said punchings extending completely through the thickness of the backing sheet; a plurality of iieXible Wire strips laid on said rear surface of the backing sheet in accordance with said punchings and said pattern; a soft resilient pad secured to said front surface of the backing sheet; a plurality of items having their faces uppermost laid on said -pad in accordance with said pattern; and tie means extending around said Wire strips, through 'said punchings, through said pad and through the apertures in said items, said tie means being pulled taut to embed the items in the pad.

2. A mounting and display 'boardin accordance with claim 1 in which said flexible rWire strips are twisted Wires carrying a pile fabric which may be bent into and will retain itself in any desired shape and said backing sheet and pad are adhesively secured together.y

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Austria.

of/1846` Great Brit-ain.

Great Britain. Great Britain.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. LOUIS G. MANCENE, Examiner. 

1. A MOUNTING AND DISPLAY BOARD FOR ITEMS HAVING APERTURES COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A BACKING SHEET HAVING A FRONT AND REAR SURFACE, SAID REAR SURFACE HAVING REFERENCE MARKINGS THEREON INCLUDING A CENTER MARKING AND A PATTERN OF PUNCHINGS CORRESPONDING TO SAID REFERENCE MARKINGS, SAID PUNCHINGS EXTENDING COMPLETELY THROUGH THE THICKNESS OF THE BACKING SHEET; A PLURALITY OF FLEXIBLE WIRE STRIPS LAID ON SAID REAR SURFACE OF THE BACKING SHEET IN ACCORDANCE WITH SAID PUNCHINGS AND SAID PATTERN; A SOFT RESILIENT PAD SECURED TO SAID FRONT SURFACE OF THE BACKING SHEET; A PLURALITY OF ITEMS HAVING THEIR FACES UPPERMOST LAID ON SAID PAD IN ACCORDANCE WITH SAID PATTERN; AND TIE MEANS EXTENDING AROUND SAID WIRE STRIPS, THROUGH SAID PUNCHINGS, THROUGH SAID PAD AND THROUGH THE APERTURES IN SAID ITEMS, SAID TIE MEANS BEING PULLED TAUT TO EMBED THE ITEMS IN THE PAD. 